Old friendship New Changes
by Ramadiii
Summary: Will and Allie have been friends all their life. They grew up together and lived fairly happy lives until one day they were forced to split up. What will have happened during the time they were apart and what will happen when they meet again?
1. Prologue

Prologue

She found him sitting by the water, cooling his aching hand in which the arrow was still stuck. He was hurting, she could tell from the way his eyes were staring grimly into the water as if it was the water's fault that his hand was hurting.

Allie smiled softly to herself. It didn't matter how old they got, he was always looking to put the blame for his pain on someone else.

"Only you could be stupid enough to attack Robin of Locksley." She walked up and sat down next to him, taking his wounded hand in hers to figure out the most painless way to remove the arrow. "You still carry the hate for him after all these years, William?"

"I am not going to follow him!" His sudden outburst made Allie flinch a little but she didn't move from his side. "I am here because I wanted to protect someone important to me, not to start a war!" Will lowered his voice but Allie had heard him.

"_Yeah... You're here because of me, Will."_

Eight Years ago

The arrowhead buried itself deep in it's target, and it was with a big smile on her face that Allie lowered her bow to find that her arrow was closer to the target than her friend's.

"I told you I was a better shot than you, William." She skipped over to the target and pulled her arrow out with a grin before throwing a victorious glance at her sulking friend.

"It's not fair." He mumbled when she walked up to him. "I'm older than you, it should have been my arrow that was the closest."

Allie shook her blond head with a sigh, how many times had they been through this already?

"Will, let me remind you of the fact that you are only a year older than me. Besides, you're better at fighting that I am. You would easily beat me in a fight so it's only fair."

Will looked up at the girl in front of him. For ten years had they known each other. For ten years had they played the same games as they did now. For ten years had he known her and yet he didn't think he would ever get used to her being as mature as she was.

A ten-year old shouldn't be able to comfort someone like she did and yet she made him feel like there was nothing wrong with losing this fight.

"Will..." Will looked up and his face reddened when he felt a pair of soft lips on his cheek. "You look really cute when you're blushing. Maybe I ought to call you Will Scarlet in the future?" Allie giggled and picked up her bow and her arrow before running back home to her mother and father, leaving the older boy standing there, the blood rushing to his face as he tried to hold back the happy grin threatening to spread across his lips.

Six Years ago

It was a hot day in the middle of summer.

Allie was sitting by the small river that ran not far from her village, braiding her long bangs out of her face when she heard a group of people walking up behind her. She didn't recognize the footsteps, they were heavier than anyone she knew and it alarmed her. She slowly reached into the folded apron next to her, her hand grabbing the dagger hidden in it, silently waiting for what was going to happen.

"Well, well well. What have we here?" A gruff voice, unfamiliar to her, asked earning laughs from his friends.

Allie stood up and turned around to face the unknown people, who she instantly identified as three of the Sheriff's men. They were walking towards her, their eyes grim as they looked her up and down, like hungry wolfs look at the innocent lamb before ripping it to pieces.

Allie felt her chest tighten at the sight of the sturdy men in front of her, she must have weighed about half of what they did and she was going to have to fight them?

Sure, she had learned how to fight Will pretty well over the last few years but he was considerably smaller and he was only one person. In front of her were three men, whom she could only assume did not have her best interest at heart.

"What do you want?" Allie still kept the knife out of sight, if she really had to fight them she could at least catch one of them by surprise.

"Oh, nothing, my pretty lass." One of them took a step forward and grabbed herchin with a smirk. "Just wondering what's underneath that dress of yours."

A quick motion of her hand and a shriek of pain was heard as the dagger cut shallowly into the man's face. He fell to his knees, grabbing his bleeding face with grunts of pain and like Allie had thought the two others came after her, not even looking twice at their companion to see if he was alright.

It didn't take long for the two remaining men to bring Allie down, no matter how much she kicked, screamed or bit she was no match for her opponents.

The one that she had cut was up on his feet again, straddling her as he tried to get her dress out of the way, while the two others were holding her down. She screamed as the tears started falling down her face, she was so frightened and so helpless she didn't know what else to do.

"_This is it." _She thought. "_This is it for me."_

Then it all went black.


	2. The things you do for Friendship

_Pairing: Will Scarlett/OC_

_Rating: K+_

_Authors Note: Hi Everyone! Here comes the second chapter of Old Friendship – New Changes._

_Really hope you like it!_

_I live for reviews!_

The man in black stopped his horse in front of her and looked at her with those cold eyes that sent shivers through her body.

"So this is the girl?" He asked one of his guards, who nodded angrily. Allie swallowed nervously, he was the only survivor of the three men from the incident at the river a couple of days ago. "Where is the other one?" Guy of Gisbourne asked her but Allie kept her mouth shut.

Will had saved her that day, but he had killed two of the Sheriff's men in the process, meaning that he was now considered an outlaw. He had left the village to seek shelter in Sherwood Forest and Allie was more worried about him than she was about herself at that moment.

There was a big possibility Gisbourne was going to take her back to Nottingham and make her tell him about Will's whereabouts but all she could think about was her friend's safety and his last words to her as he had left them the night before.

"_Allie, I did this to make sure you didn't get hurt so promise me that you will try to do the same." Will stroked away the tear falling from his friend's eyes and smiled at her. "You can always find me if you need help, don't ever forget that."_

_And with that he left, disappearing into the forest, Allie waiting there until she could no longer hear his footsteps before heading back to the village._

A tight grip around her hair brought her back from her thoughts and it was with a small wince that her face was turned up, frightened blue eyes meeting a pair of cold gray ones.

"Where is the other one?" Gisbourne asked slowly, the anger so clear in his voice Allie had to fight to hold back the shudder it sent through her skinny body.

"I... I don't know, my lord." She stuttered as the pain in her scalp grew for every second that passed.

"Really?" Gisbourne tightened the grip around Allie's braid, causing the tears to form in her eyes.

"Yes, really. I went to see him this morning and found his hut empty, I have no idea where he is... Ah!" She gasped as Gisbourne yanked a little harder at her hair, making Allie having to tiptoe in order to not have her hair ripped out.

"Is that true?" The man on the horse turned to the crowd that had gathered around them, not once letting go of the girl's hair.

Allie looked into the crowd, silently praying for at least one of them to agree with her...

"It's true!" Knowing who the steady voice belonged to Allie felt like all of her worries vanish.

With a quick glance to her left she saw Fanny Little standing there with her hands on the shoulders of her four year old son, Wulf, and her husband, John standing next to her, nodding in agreement, with a protective arm around her pregnant waist.

Gisbourne looked at the Little's and back at Allie, then at the Little's and back at Allie again before finally letting the twelve-year old go, causing her to fall to the ground on her knees.

"The boy is now an outlaw, and any association with him is to be punishable by death." Gisbourne announced proudly, staring Allie down with those stone-cold eyes before heading out of the village, back to Nottingham.

Allie remained on the ground until Gisbourne and his men were out of sight. Then the crowd dispersed, leaving only the Little's.

"Are you alright, love?" Fanny asked as John reached Allie his hand, helping her up.

"Thank you." Allie smiled at the older woman in front of her. "For helping me..."

"Think nothin' of it, lass." John chuckled. "You stood up for your friend, how could we not help you?" He placed his big hands on her shoulders and looked her warmly in the eyes. "Your father would have been proud of you, Allie."

At this Allie said nothing. She just gave them a smile and nodded in silence before walking away from the village, down to the river that she, despite what had happened, still loved so much.

She loosed her poor hair from the messy braid and combed through it with her slender fingers. She felt so empty.

Like there was something inside of her that was eating her up, piece by piece. Starting with her heart...

"Boo." The whisper was so close to her ear that she must have jumped at least a few feet off the ground and she whipped her head around.

A loving smile greeted her along with a pair of familiar eyes as she looked into the face of her dearest childhood friend.

"Will!" Allie threw herself around her friend's neck, the tears stinging in her eyes as she felt his longish hair tickle her neck like it always had.

"You stuck up for me." His smile faded a little when she let him go several seconds later. "Why?"

Allie looked at him like he had just claimed the Sheriff of Nottingham to be a saint.

"What do you mean 'why'? I did it to help you, like you helped me, remember?"

"I thought I told you to not get hurt, and what is the first thing you do? You go and pick a fight with Gisbourne!" He was yelling at her now, pacing in front of her as if he tried to keep his emotions in check.

"Look who's talking! If you were really didn't want me to get hurt then you wouldn't have shown up here. As much as I love seeing that you are well, I hate that you have to leave... It feels like a big dark hole eating away at my chest..." Allie was sobbing now, and as much as Will was uncomfortable around crying girls he pulled her into his embrace and let her cry away her sorrows.

"I'm sorry, Allie. I'm sorry to have brought this upon you, I didn't mean to." He whispered into her wavy blond hair and tightened his hold around her. He had to go back into hiding soon again but for now he just needed to feel her next to him.

He needed the love from the girl who was closer to him than a little sister, in order to live through another lonely night in the forest.


	3. Tears of the Missed

**Chapter 3 – Tears of the Missed**

**A/N: Allie is 18 and Will is 19**

* * *

For almost six years had they been apart and Allie wasn't really sure whether or not William was going to recognized her but she still walked deeper into the forest, holding her bleeding side with one hand as she supported Fanny with the other one.  
Under those six years a lot had happened in the village, John and Wulf Little had been named outlaws and joined up with the "ghosts" of Sherwood Forest. The Lord Locksley had died, his home burned and his lands taken by the Sheriff, his son had returned from the Holy Lands but had turned outlaw as well.  
The son now called Robin Hood was determined to fight the Sheriff and the injustice of England but the Sheriff had therefore turned on the villagers, making them suffer hoping for them to turn the outlaws in. That was the reason for why Allie and the rest of the people from her village were now walking through the forest, hoping to find food and shelter with the outlaws.  
Their village had been plundered and burned down by Gisbourne and the Sheriff's men in an attempt to find Robin in the Hood.

.

Allie let go of the older woman with a small smile when John Little came running up to them, allowing the woman and her husband to reunite in peace.  
She saw a boy, not much older than herself looking at her and it took a few moments before she realized who it was. He looked as good as always, older and more mature as well as taller but all in all the man in front of her looked like the boy she'd known... Except for the eyes. There was something in them that made Allie's breath catch in her throat.  
He started walking towards her, in a almost uncertain manor before speeding up his pace and finally running towards her, embracing her and spinning her around a few times with a big smile on his face.  
The arms around her hurt waist made her pain somewhat worse but she wasn't going to let him know that, she was so happy to be close to him again and she felt the tears stinging her eyes as she tried to blink them away.  
"I missed you so much, Will." She sobbed, her attempts to stop the crying before it started had failed and the man in front of her pulled her close again and stroked her long hair.  
"I missed you too, Allie."


	4. As gentle as a Lover

**Old Friendship, New Changes - Chapter 4 – As gentle as a lover**

* * *

Sitting by her friend's side Allie gently dabbed the wet cloth over the open wounds that adorned his upper-body. Although not too serious they were dirty and needed cleaning before they could even think about relaxing after the big fight in Nottingham.

She'd tried getting to them the moment she saw the numerous big gashes across his skin but Will had been adamant about leaving them be until they got their men, and Wulf, back from the Sheriff.

.

The second, however, that they'd gotten them all back safe she'd dragged him into her make-shift tent and had practically ripped his shirt off of him before pushing him down on some blankets and started cleaning the cuts.

He had, of course, protested, saying that it wasn't as bad as it looked. That the wounds didn't need cleaning but one stern look was enough to get him to lay back down and let her work.

.

Allie was used to helping him when he was hurt but being this close to him while his shirt was off was enough to distract her usually clear head. While she worked in silence Will was staring at her with a smile on his lips, although every once in a while he'd hiss when she touched a particularly sore spot.

.

Whenever she heard him hiss or catch his breath Allie made an effort of being more gentle but it was harder than it should have been what with those pale brown eyes watching her in a way that made her blush.

.

She wasn't going to lie to herself, she'd started feeling something for him in the past year. Something other than the friendship they had.

.

She'd realized her heart skipping a beat whenever he touched her. Her face flushing when he said something sweet or funny. Her hands losing their grip whenever he hugged her from behind.

.

She was sure this was what they called love, what the minstrels all sang about but she was young, only 18 years of age. What did she know of love?

.

.

Finished washing the wounds she allowed her fingers to gently stroke the skin on his chest, her head too deep in thought to notice the slight sigh of content that escaped Will's lips as she did.

.

Bringing his hand up to hers Will grasped it and smiled at how she jumped at his touch, she'd always been jumpy around him and it never ceased to amaze him just how sweet she looked with that blush adorning her face.

Reaching his other hand up he gently cupped her cheek and stroked his thumb across her smooth skin, enjoying the feeling of being so close to her. Hanging in that dungeon, faced with only darkness, had really frightened him but what he'd found even more frightening was the thought of never seeing Allie again.

.

All those years of being away from her had been torture enough, then to get her back only to be taken from her again... Just the thought of losing her made him want to embrace her and never let go.

.

With his hand in her long hair he gently guided her face down to his, feeling his heart beat out of his chest as he looked into those beautiful eyes of hers before letting his lips touch hers in a sweet first kiss.

.

They had always been the best of friends. They would always stay best friends. Except now they also had something else between them. A love that had probably always been there.

All it had taken was the threat of a certain devil-worshiping Sheriff and the promise of peace from a reformed nobleman to make it show itself.

* * *

**A/N: Final chapter of this story! I'm sorry it's not longer but I felt like this was the best I could do under the circumstances ;)**

**I hope you've enjoyed it!**


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